Cake
by Kylie Anderson
Summary: He was leaving. He was leaving the job, the friends, the mysteries...everything that seemingly defined him. Now, Grissom must say goodbye as he leaves CSI forever.


Cake

Gilbert Grissom carried his final box of belongings outside and felt the warmth of the early Las Vegas sun. He placed the box inside his already stuffed car and then turned back to the building he had worked at for so many years.

He was leaving. He was leaving the job, the friends, the mysteries…everything that seemingly defined him. The hardest thing to let go of was the co-workers. He had already lost two members of the team in a short period of time. Warrick Brown, a man with a troubled past, but a good heart, was murdered by the corrupt Undersheriff. Looking back, Grissom found it ironic that Warrick died as he lived. He remembered a time when Warrick was being used by a dishonest judge and he came to Grissom for advice. Warrick wore a wire and the judge was promptly arrested. And then, years later, Warrick died because he was seeking truth and justice…

Sara Sidle, a woman he loved dearly, was more fortunate. She left the CSI Las Vegas graveyard shift with her life, but her soul was weary of the constant death. She resigned, leaving Grissom alone once more.

Now Grissom was leaving Catherine Willows, his right hand woman, Catherine was a competent investigator, an organized supervisor and a loyal friend; Nick Stokes, a man with horrors in his past, but conquering them with a smile; Greg Sanders, a former lab rat turned CSI with a bizarre sense of style and love of loud music. He was leaving them.

He wasn't worried about his replacement. Catherine would probably be a better boss than he was. She never forgot to fill out paperwork or file things when they were due. And she was more emotionally bonded to the team… Grissom was more concerned about how he would go about his day without seeing them.

"Grissom!" A voice shouted as someone raced towards him.

He knew it. Someone was going to try and talk him out of retiring… "Grissom! Come quick!" Greg said urgently, out of breath.

Grissom had never seen Greg so…frightened before. Something was drastically wrong. "There's an emergency and…" Greg said swiftly. "Hurry!"

With that, Greg raced back into the building with Grissom huffing behind him. They ran down the halls so quickly, Grissom hardly had time to notice how empty the lab was. Greg skidded to a halt. Greg placed his hand on the handle of the break room and yanked it open.

Inside stood a giant mass of people, none of which seemed injured. Then he saw it. The banner that read: _Goodbye Grissom_. Catherine was standing behind a table and on the table there was a large cake in the shape of a magnifying glass. Grissom suspected that Catherine made it herself.

Nick stood beside Jim Brass, the homicide detective that Grissom worked with (and under at one time) for years. Dr. Al Robbins, the coroner, was propped up by his cane. David Hodges was smiling in his little brown-nosing way. Various other lab techs and CSI's were there as well. Even Conrad Ecklie, whom Grissom never understood, was in the room. He was shocked by the amount of people to say the least.

"Good job Greg," Nick said at last, breaking the silence.

Greg shrugged. "I've always wanted to see if I could make it as an actor." Greg said.

Catherine never took her eyes off of Grissom. She had been with him through the good and the bad…and the worse. She promised herself that she would be there for him in the end. "I know you said that there would be no cake in the break room, but…" Catherine said before fading into silence. "We wanted to say goodbye."

Grissom smiled at her. "Thank you," Grissom said honestly. "All of you."

"No…thank you," Nick said. "For everything you've done for this lab, for countless victims, for the families and…for us."

Although Grissom wasn't a man to cry, he felt the hot tears in his eyes that were threatening to escape. This was harder than he imagined. Catherine moved forward at that moment and began to cut the cake. She handed pieces out while Greg poured soda.

For the next half-hour, people happily chatted with Grissom. They discussed old cases, especially the weird ones, and talked about the good times in the lab. And finally, Grissom knew that if he stayed one more minute, he would never want to leave.

"Catherine, my departing words are…good luck." Grissom said lightly.

"You're not dying." Catherine said firmly. "Make sure to stop by every now and then."

"I will." Grissom promised as he looked into their faces one last time.

Everyone was silent out of respect as the man who made CSI walked out of the door, turned and disappeared down the long hallway…out of the building and out of the crime scene investigation career forever.

Gilbert Grissom's time at CSI was over. It was now up to the other members of the graveyard shift to follow the evidence, wherever it may lead them, to find justice, truth and peace for victims and their families, as he trained them to do so many years ago.

**The End**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. _


End file.
